MONTREAL – The first-ever UFC women’s bantamweight title belt is being fabricated at this very moment, according to UFC President Dana White.

That strap will go to now-ex-Strikeforce champ Ronda Rousey (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who this week signed with the UFC.

Rousey’s octagon debut date is unknown, according to White, though it will be
on a UFC pay-per-view card. And unless a champion of greater weight is on
the card, Rousey will headline.

As for the first opponent to meet the women’s MMA superstar, White was unsure. But he seemed cold on the possibility of a fight between Rousey and ex-Strikeforce featherweight champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, who has sparred with Rousey in the press.

“Our matchmakers have talked to their camp, and she doesn’t seem too excited to fight Ronda,” White said.

Santos was stripped of Strikeforce’s 145-pound title after testing positive for Stanozolol metabolites following a win over Hiroko Yamanaka at a Strikeforce event this past December. She denied knowingly taking steroids and said a tainted supplement was to blame.

Santos repeatedly has said she is unable to make the 135-pound limit needed to challenge Rousey, recently claiming a weight drop could harm her health and potentially affect her ability to have children.

White said Rousey was the only fighter currently signed to the UFC, though he said all female Strikeforce fighters were ultimately signed to UFC and Strikeforce parent company Zuffa.

A previous agreement with broadcast partner Showtime not to sign or lend fighters from Strikeforce apparently was dropped. Two weeks ago, word spread that Rousey was UFC-bound and the sister promotion was set to fold following a Jan. 12 event.

“We’re bringing in the 135-pound division,” White said. “I’m trying this whole women’s thing out. Obviously, Ronda is the champ. I think Ronda has the potential to be a big star. She’s already getting media that we’ve never even gotten before, and she’s never even set foot in the UFC yet. That’s the division that we’re bringing in. We’re bringing in the 135-pound division.”

White went so far as to say Rousey and another female could potentially coach male fighters on the UFC’s flagship reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Rousey won the Strikeforce 135-pound women’s belt in March with a first-round armbar submission over Miesha Tate. She then defended it in August with another quick armbar over ex-champ Sarah Kaufman. In total, she’s stopped nine opponents in the first frame with the joint lock.

A recent tweet from Tate announcing her signing with the UFC appears premature.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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